News, You and Me by Adolfo Nieto (December 15, 2010)
News is a very influential medium to descend information; let's discuss it shall we.
Like any other form of media, news can have its benefits and drawbacks. For one, it makes it easier to have everyone up-to-date on what’s going on. For example, this applies in politics. However, as we speak of this matter, you FOX and NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO (NPR) contributers start to twitch because your nervousness goes over the roof, so we will exploit your bias.
It's pretty clear and obvious that news is very bias politically. Yet for the most part, according to “Do People Believe What They See on TV?” the general public takes everything to be factual. News broadcasting services are great media for broadcasting information to a greater audience in a shorter period of time, so a thanks would be well deserved on their part, except for the fact that a lot of the informing they do is one sided.
For example, Fox News is a conservative news broadcaster. That is, it sides with Republicans; it is not unusual that the information it broadcasts is conservative. On the other hand, NPR is a liberal broadcaster; therefore, it sides with the Democrats.
Initially, that may not seem to be a horrible thing. After all, everyone is entitled to his or her own opinion. The only problem is, as mentioned before, that people tend to believe everything that comes on TV simply because it is emitted nationally to the general public; many make the worst assumption that news broadcasters would not broadcast false information.
In fact, just that was an issue that NPR radio station had to deal with. According to the Huffington Post, Juan Williams, an analyst for NPR was fired because of his “ I just get nervous”-around-Muslims comment.
NPR, in a statement, wrote that Juan Williams is a great reporter, but they have to let him go for his comment; it didn't coincide with the editorial standards and practices of NPR. This is not the only occasion in which news broadcasters have been in humiliating situations. We can go on for days and discuss many instances in which this matter occurred.
by Adolfo Nieto (December 15, 2010)
News is a very influential medium to descend information; let's discuss it shall we.
Like any other form of media, news can have its benefits and drawbacks. For one, it makes it easier to have everyone up-to-date on what’s going on. For example, this applies in politics. However, as we speak of this matter, you FOX and NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO (NPR) contributers start to twitch because your nervousness goes over the roof, so we will exploit your bias.
It's pretty clear and obvious that news is very bias politically. Yet for the most part, according to “Do People Believe What They See on TV?” the general public takes everything to be factual. News broadcasting services are great media for broadcasting information to a greater audience in a shorter period of time, so a thanks would be well deserved on their part, except for the fact that a lot of the informing they do is one sided.
For example, Fox News is a conservative news broadcaster. That is, it sides with Republicans; it is not unusual that the information it broadcasts is conservative. On the other hand, NPR is a liberal broadcaster; therefore, it sides with the Democrats.
Initially, that may not seem to be a horrible thing. After all, everyone is entitled to his or her own opinion. The only problem is, as mentioned before, that people tend to believe everything that comes on TV simply because it is emitted nationally to the general public; many make the worst assumption that news broadcasters would not broadcast false information.
In fact, just that was an issue that NPR radio station had to deal with. According to the Huffington Post, Juan Williams, an analyst for NPR was fired because of his “ I just get nervous”-around-Muslims comment.
NPR, a liberal news broadcaster, ended its contract with Juan Williams, an analyst, for the comment he made at his other more conservative job, FOX, so says David Folkenflik in “NPR Ends Williams' Contract After Muslim Remarks”.
NPR, in a statement, wrote that Juan Williams is a great reporter, but they have to let him go for his comment; it didn't coincide with the editorial standards and practices of NPR. This is not the only occasion in which news broadcasters have been in humiliating situations. We can go on for days and discuss many instances in which this matter occurred.
But occupying ourselves with that wouldn't get us anywhere. We must simply go on, acknowledge that we've been fooled, and, though this may sound bad, become cynical. As Edgar Allan Poe wrote, “Believe nothing of what you hear and only half of what you see.”
Misleading information has been floating around since dinosaurs dominated the planet; it's about time we begin to question what we're told.